1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for successively finishing or processing an elongate article such as a continuous slide fastener chain with flies into products of individual lengths such as slide fasteners with flies, and more particularly to a discharge device incorporated in such processing apparatus for discharging the finished products from the apparatus to a container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Nos. 60-80401 and 60-85704 disclose an apparatus for manufacturing slide fasteners with flies from a continuous slide fastener chain having flies attached thereto at longitudinal intervals. In manufacture, each of the flies is folded as the chain is fed along. After a slider is threaded on intermeshed rows of coupling elements, a bottom stop is applied. At the same time of the bottom stop application, the chain is cut by a chain cutter into individual product lengths. Though not disclosed in the above-mentioned publications, an attempt has been made to discharge the finished slide fasteners from the apparatus to a container by a belt conveyor disposed immediately downstream of the chain cutter.
Since the slide fastener with the fly wider than the slide fastener is asymmetric with respect to the longitudinal central line of the slide fastener, the slide fastener is likely to tilt in a lateral direction on, or sometimes fall from, the belt conveyor when the belt conveyor is driven at a high speed in synchronism with the operation of the apparatus. This drawback can be avoided by lowering the running speed of the belt conveyor below the operation of the apparatus, however, such low conveying speed results in a low rate of production of the slide fastener.